[asa] Evolution Sunday and an Evangelical statement on evolution

Feb 10 is the third annual Evolution Sunday (see:
http://www.butler.edu/clergyproject/rel_evolution_weekend_2008.htm) run by
The Clergy Letter Project. Christian pastors that participate in this
event will be preaching about evolution – and they will be promoting a
peaceful coexistence between the scientific theory and the Christian faith.
I suspect however, that the number of Evangelical pastors taking part in
this will be very, very small. (I'd be interested if someone can identify
some Evangelical pastors and congregations that are taking part).

Frankly, I can't really blame Evangelicals for not taking part. Even if an
Evangelical church and pastor were comfortable with the relationship between
evolution and a specifically Evangelical expression of the Christian faith,
I doubt they would be comfortable with a) identifying with a group that
includes many Christian congregations and pastors well outside of Christian
orthodoxy (& from the website, it looks like the group is now broadening the
scope to other religions as well) and b) signing a statement that may
forcefully support the science of evolution but which waters down the faith
component to make it almost unpalatable for Evangelicals. (For eg., Christ
is not mentioned in the formal statement see:
http://www.butler.edu/clergyproject/religion_science_collaboration.htm. )

Personally I think it would be very helpful if a specifically Evangelical
statement regarding a positive relationship between evolutionary science and
faith could be developed. A statement like this could have the same positive
effect in the Evangelical community that The Evangelical Climate
Initiative<http://www.christiansandclimate.org/>has had in the climate
change discussion.
This probably couldn't be an official ASA statement – we'd want it to be
broader than just the scientific community (and for reasons that have been
discussed on this list before, the ASA is probably not going to take an
official stance on evolution – even common descent). However, I think a
statement like this would be supported by many ASA members – maybe even
initiated by ASA members. In fact, parts of the ASA's statement on
Creation<http://www.asa3.org/ASA/topics/Evolution/commission_on_creation.html#Commission%20on%20Creation>
might
be a good place to start.

I'd like to hear what others think about this: Do you think there is enough
momentum in the Evangelical community for this type of proposal to garner a
significant (or at least adequate) level of support? Or would it be
dismissed as an initiative from the radical Evangelical fringe? What do you
think is the best approach for this type of initiative? Is it something that
should originate in Evangelical academia? In Evangelical denominational
structures? In Evangelical umbrella organizations? Or would this work
better if it originated outside of these types of organizations? After all,
one positive aspect of the Evangelical movement is that grass roots
initiatives can be very, very successful. Maybe the most important question
of all is whether this type of initiative is constructive? Ie. will the
benefits outweigh the obvious risks?
Note that Darrel Falk in his lecture Bridging the Worlds of Faith and
Biology (available on our home page at
http://www.asa3.org/ASAradio/CFHG2007Falk.mp3) hints that he and other
Evangelicals may be working on an initiative like this in the near future.
Does anyone have any details on this?

thanks,

-- 
Steve Martin (CSCA)
http://evanevodialogue.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.